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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29052681">A Fissue of Echolocation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/firewoodwander/pseuds/firewoodwander'>firewoodwander</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the obligatory modern au [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, aquarium date, non-binary Echo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:06:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>866</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29052681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/firewoodwander/pseuds/firewoodwander</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Seahorses are incapable of swimming against currents, and are the slowest known fish in the world. The dwarf seahorse, <i>H. zosterae,</i> would be unlikely to pass a top speed of 1.5m per hour (Guinness World Records, 2008).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo/CT-782 | Hevy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the obligatory modern au [9]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2054547</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Fissue of Echolocation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you to dear menac-ika for the prompt, Hevy and Echo - aquarium date! I hope you enjoy 🤍</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Echo blinks as their eyes begin to adjust to the dimness of the place. Brighter, floor-angled lights line the black walls of the corridors leading into the first room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve never been to one of these before,” they say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” Hevy asks. “Well, I thought it might be fun. Cool new science facts and all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Echo agrees. “I do like fish. They’re pretty.” They roll their chair forward, wondering idly about the probability of putting too much strain on their weak arm before dismissing it out of hand. Today is a good day. They’re going to enjoy it, elbows be damned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first tanks are tall, deep, and filled with coral reef critters, ranging in bright colours and fans and fins and spines. Echo points out a few types of coral as they waft in the currents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that a Nemo?” Hevy mutters. He leans down to peer at a lower bank of anemones. “Oh, it is! He’s black, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Echo taps the sign on the wall next to him. “Where’s the biggest one? It says the biggest clownfish in a patch is the female.” Hevy bites his lip as he scans the tank again, and Echo is hard pushed not to smile. “They can be several colours, too, including orange and black. And that butterflyfish—they have false eyes so predators won’t attack the head.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s clever. Wait, is that a shark?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Echo looks over as they roll back a little to read the other signs. “Yeah, I think so.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, look…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the other end of the coral exhibit, its entrance ringed by a rocky-looking façade, Echo mutters an exclamation as they look up at the long tunnel that runs the corridor leading into the next rooms. In it is the turtle that caught their eye, soaring serenely over the entryway while numerous other fish flit by.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two young children run past, giggling to each other, skidding into the tunnel so they can reach up and press their noses against the glass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And we’re sure that’s safe?” Hevy eyes them skeptically at Echo’s side. Echo reaches up to hook their fingers in his sleeve and pull him along.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, of course it’s safe. But still, you heard the woman, don’t bang on the glass—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think she was talking about scaring the fish.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hah, they can already see your face.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Echo smiles and leans back as they stop on the side of the corridor, gazing up at the sharks and glittering shoals weaving overhead. The child in the blue dress jumps excitedly up and down under her father’s watch when a small nursing shark swishes its way towards them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blimey,” Hevy murmurs. It seems an absent action when he twists his wrist to slip Echo’s hand into his. Echo’s breath hitches a little, and they chew their lip and hope that the blue-filtered light will help hide the way their cheeks prickle with warmth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you know there’s a shark that can live for something like six-hundred years?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hevy blinks and looks down, not acknowledging their linked fingers though he swings them gently. “That’s an old ass shark.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm hmm. They eat them in Iceland, but they have to detox the meat first. It’s over six metres long.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>big</span>
  </em>
  <span> ass old ass shark.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Exasperated, Echo smiles up at him. “That </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> one way of putting it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hevy grins and lets their hand go to help wheel them through the rest of the tunnel. Echo huffs but lets him, content to watch the fish they move past.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Any more fun fish facts to tell me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I can think of any,” they say. “You know, I couldn’t get to sleep one night because I was wondering how fish talk to each other.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Hevy snickers. “You were texting me at three A.M.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Echo ducks to hide a guilty snicker. “Wasn’t that years ago? Well… Sorry. Anyway, I found out they can make noises with their bodies. It was quite interesting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hevy hums consideringly, though his attention is quickly caught by the next set of tanks. “I thought you said it was using chemicals?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That too. Oh! And there’s the idea that fish were the first vertebrates with bone skeletons—”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Bone</span>
  </em>
  <span> skeletons?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sharks and rays are made out of cartilage, right? But fish have bones.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, and they’re annoying when they get stuck in your throat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pfft, don’t say that! The fish’ll hear you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, they’ll get over it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Echo laughs as their gaze falls to a massive column of a tank, around which curves a gently sloping ramp, down into the lower exhibits. Fish swim in wide circles as they descend and Echo follows them, trailing their fingers over the glass as they go. At half a rotation they glance up to see the extent of the construction but catch Hevy’s eye on the other side; he hasn’t moved, still left standing at the top of the ramp, and his hand presses to the glass in a way not dissimilar to Echo’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Echo’s smile turns shy as they adjust their fingers to match, even with hundreds of gallons of water between them. On the other side, Hevy beams. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Find me here on <a href="https://firewoodwander.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>Guinness World Records. (2008). <i>Guinness World Records 2009,</i> 32-33. ISBN-10: 1904994377.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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